Friday, September 14, 2012

This August, I had the pleasure of attending my third WWD
MAGIC summer tradeshow with Two Point Oh! LA. Without a doubt, this convention
experience trumped all others. Discovering new brands, communicating with
retailers, and sharing your industry perspective with an interactive audience
is always a thrill – but when those moments
are enjoyed in the presence of friends, new and old, they sublimate into
memories so powerful that it’d defy reason to forget why the fashion community
is such an incredible, creative force. It was a genuine privilege to have been
invited to MAGIC as a digital influencer, representing the American fashion
blogging community and bestowed the impressive responsibility of generating
coverage throughout a medium bloggers know best: the internet. Between meeting
an inspirational lot of women as empowered as they are stylish and introducing
myself in the flesh to retailers like Pink and Pepper or Lucca Couture(with
whom I’d only previously connected online!), I learned. Some girls expressed their concerns with blogger-brand
relationships and others offered solutions. Some girls campaigned for their
favorite fashion-forward social networking sites like Pinterest and Tumblr.
Some girls, like me, encouraged others to get involved in the community by
starting somewhere obvious, like Lookbook.nu. No matter what the topic of
discussion was, knowledge ricocheted off the walls of the Convention Center and
landed deep within the crevices of our inventive brains. Anyone who argues that
the fashion industry is superficial and dry has clearly never attended MAGIC.
Never in my life have I been surrounded by more brilliant businessmen and women
in my life than in those three days. I extend my deepest and sincerest acclaims
to the Two Point Oh! LA team and WWD MAGIC staff for making this adventure
possible. And I’d like to especially offer everlasting gratitude to my –and the
girls’ – “blogger Mama,” Kelsi Smith, who coordinated this ENTIRE collaboration.
You are all so indescribably fated to be appreciated!

In the spirit of fond memories, here’s a collage of my MAGIC
experience, as documented through Instagram.